


Her Boy

by Saziikins



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Infertility, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 19:06:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4491222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saziikins/pseuds/Saziikins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock is the son Mrs Hudson has never had. She reflects, as she watches the changing relationship between Sherlock and Greg Lestrade.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came into my head while I was eating a jacket potato and waiting for Windows 10 to install. I had to write it. It's a bit different from everything else, and sappy, but it was change.

She loves him like a son. She has to assume this is how it feels to have a son, because she has never actually had a child. She was unable to, and really that was a small mercy because she would never have wanted to bring a child into the home she shared with her then-husband. Sherlock is as close to a child as she will ever have.  
  
She knows Sherlock still has a living mother, of course. She knows that mother brought him up well, and in all the right ways. Yes, Sherlock can be rude and apparently unfeeling but it’s the sign of a man brought up to be himself. He is comfortable in his skin and in his ways, and as far as Martha can tell, that is his mother’s influence. 

And besides, this man, this boy, this surrogate son of hers, has never been anything but good to her. He cares, in a very visible way, in ways he doesn’t demonstrate with just anyone.   
  
He is affectionate with her, and she is grateful for it, because for much of her life, affection was hard to come by. Inevitably, Sherlock knows that. But knowing him as she does, she knows he isn’t easy with his affection. That he bothers, that he tries, says more than words ever could.   
  
But Martha senses her boy is lonely. And that does make her heart ache for him, because, though it would kill Sherlock to admit it, he needs people. He needs their approval, their praise, the encouragement, the promise he is doing okay.   
  
She had hoped John would be the answer. And he was, for some time. For all his protestations and ‘not gay, Mrs Hudson’, she knew ‘not gay’ meant little. Why, she was certainly ‘not gay’, but even now she occasionally dreams of Rita Lipski, and the accompanying memories are fond and only sometimes saucy these days.   
  
But now John is married and has a baby in his arms. That Mrs Hudson is now Godmother to this little bundle of joy is more than she could ever have dreamed of. She won’t spill a tear, not now, not in the church, but later perhaps before bed, when she pours a hot toddy, she will weep a little with the joy of it all.   
  
If this all feels like the end of an era for Sherlock, he doesn’t show it. He is on his best behaviour and for all he says about how boring the baby is, Martha knows he adores that little girl.   
  
Lonely though, her boy. Oh, he is a full-grown man, she knows that. But he has the eyes of a child, full of untempered enthusiasm and a confidence there could always be more, so much more, in every puzzle he solves. He isn’t bitter with age. He doesn’t lock himself away and pine for John.   
  
He writes now. Journal articles and the like, and he lets her read his first drafts. She tells him which parts she doesn’t understand so he can make it more accessible for the average person. He wouldn’t have bothered with that even 12 months ago.  
  
John changed him. That is undeniable. He softened his steely edges, and taught him a little tact could go a long way. But Sherlock was always soft to her. It just took him a long time to show that side to other people. And he does that rarely even now. It’s fleeting; blink-and-you-miss it smiles and warm affection.   
  
But they are all here, at the rugby club near Mary and John’s home where they are holding the Christening reception. Sherlock gives a short speech, because he is told someone should, and he has improved considerably since the last one. He keeps this one short and sweet. And when he’s done, the first to congratulate him is Greg Lestrade, who leans over from his table and clasps his shoulder and murmurs ‘great speech’.   
  
Those two words are enough to inspire pride in Sherlock’s eyes. And even when John hugs him and Mary kisses his cheeks, he doesn’t seem nearly so pleased as he did than when Greg praised him.   
  
Martha likes Greg. Not just because he is handsome and friendly and will always listen politely to everything she has to say, but because he looks out for her boy. She watches now, as he fetches a drink for himself from the bar, and he gives one to Sherlock too. A gin and tonic, with a Maraschino cherry, which he must have asked for specifically because he knows Sherlock likes the taste.   
  
She has seen him fetch drinks for Sherlock on so many occasions. It must seem an irrelevant thing to everyone else. But she has seen him make teas when Sherlock is plucking out deductions. She has seen him provide Sherlock with water when he is almost certainly dehydrated. She has seen Greg give him a drink just minutes after Sherlock’s dreadful revelation that his wife was cheating on him. It’s a sign Greg is always watching him, always looking out for him.   
  
Where John softened Sherlock, Greg has seen him through the worst. And Martha knows all about that, because she saw him through it too.   
  
John knows the stories, but he hasn’t lived it, not really. She and Greg have and they are both still here, and they both still love him. And it’s so obvious, she is stunned she never saw it before. But oh, of course Greg loves him. He doesn’t hide it, but it is so much in his nature to show kindness to everyone, that he doesn’t appear to treat Sherlock any differently to anyone else.   
  
But she hopes for it now. Sherlock may not be the sort for marriage, and nor the sort for babies, but he needs company, however much he denies it. It’s why he has held onto her and Greg for so long.   
  
Three years before John Watson arrived in their lives, Sherlock saved her life and brought a swift and decisive end to her husband’s abuse. Greg had already been in Sherlock’s life for two years by that time. And Greg had picked them up from the airport after they arrived from America.   
  
And then Greg stayed in the B&B with her for a week, a loyal bodyguard, while she worried her husband’s cartel might be after her to kill her. And Greg didn’t even know her, but he had done that for her, no questions asked. He had done it for Sherlock.   
  
The months roll by, her hip gives her trouble, and Sherlock is dutiful and does some shopping for her on a cold day when she simply cannot leave the flat. She sits with him while he types on his laptop, and she reads her magazines.   
  
When Greg Lestrade arrives to give Sherlock some cases to look over, she feels like she is watching one of her favourite romantic films. She watches every sneaking glance, subtle smile, the brief touch of Greg’s hand to Sherlock’s shoulder.   
  
There’s love between them. Deep love, the sort only two long-term friends could have for one another. But it’s a friendly love which has matured as they both have.   
  
She waits for Christmas. They are all there, their little family. Mary bounces the baby on her knee, and John carves the turkey and Molly, sweet Molly, convinces Sherlock to wear one of those paper hats from the cracker.   
  
Greg is late, having been working, and he eats the leftovers heated in the microwave. They play Charades, or try to, but Sherlock is terrible at it and after a while he demands they play something else. Soon, the baby must go to bed and John and Mary leave. Molly goes with them, needing the lift.   
  
And then it’s just her and her boy, and her boy’s policeman. She hands Sherlock a little gift and kisses the side of his head, and leaves them together.   
  
But before she closes the door, she turns over her shoulder and watches Greg sit beside Sherlock on the sofa, far too close to just be casual.   
  
‘I just want to talk to you about something I think has been happening for a long time’, Greg says, his voice soft.   
  
‘I already know’, Sherlock replies and as they lean towards one another, Martha quietly closes the door.   
  
He will be okay, her boy, and that’s all she has ever wanted. And they may never wed, but she will hint at it, because she would so love to buy a hat for the occasion. And even if they never do, she’s happy her boy has chosen Greg. He will protect him, and love him, and never try to change him.   
  
Because Sherlock doesn’t need to change. He is like a son to her. And he is the best son she could have had.


End file.
